Eye Eye Eye of the Beholder

July 21, 2011

A website online is holding a digital exhibition of jewelry art. The display includes artists from all around the world and there are 240 some odd pictures. The designs are diverse and cover a lot of ground as far as materials go. I think some of the Swedish and Finn designs are very interesting. They’re very different than what were used to here in the U. S.

Some of the more interesting uses of different materials include an artist from the US named Sarah West. She’s working with celluloid and filmstrips as well as paper. Her jewelry is very unusual. Another artist, Sarah Kelly, from the UK makes jewelry from paper. She has some lovely designs. Included in the display is an artist from Turkey with very different ideas about jewelry design and materials. This artist is making jewelry from drinking straws which I find just wonderful. Many of the patterns remind me of the kaleidoscope and yet they’re made from straws. Judy Freyer Thompson, a well-known jewelry artist has many pieces on display and are worth seeing. The website is called Ganoksin and the exhibit, (Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder) can be seen at http://www.ganoksin.com/exhibition/v/beb/?g2_page=22 .

If you don’t know about http://www.ganoksin.com then let me tell you that it’s a nonprofit resource for people who make jewelry and work in metal. But it’s more than that. If you surf around the website a little bit you’ll find that there is a lot of resources for artists. They have all sorts of articles about how to market your work for example. You will also find that they have a lot of articles about how to deal with different materials, displaying your work, getting your work photographed, and the biggest subject of all: pricing. I found this website to be a great resource.

I hope you take some time to go look and see what artists all around the world are doing. I think it’s worth it just to study different design some composition even though it’s jewelry art. It’s also interesting to see how many different materials are being used. I think you can see the different aesthetic between countries and cultures in a display like this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please feel free to post your comments here. It would be interesting to see what people think. Enjoy!